Ottawa 'blindsided' by Fiat Chrysler recall and $105M fine

In the US the NHTSA actually investigates and orders recalls. In Canada, the minister just sits on her ass and asks why she wasn't notified. Nice

With my recent recall I wasn't notified I had to spend time on the interweb searching for answers. At first I was searching for estimates about how much Id expect to pay to fix my Dodge only to find out that there was a recall out on my truck. Yes I am a second owner but surely Chrysler would coordinate with relevant ministry to get updated info on the status of all affected vehicles. With my truck it affect only 2005 models, 225,000 vehicles total and 10% where Canadian vehicles. upon discovering that there was a recall (actually two recalls one for the pinion nut and one for drivers airbag) I checked Chryslers status on it. low and behold that although they where well aware of the issue in October of last year (I found official documentation) there still was not an available part to fix it (actually either recall situation). I even had the dealer check the status before telling him my problem, him; "nope, no parts", me; Well you're gonna need a hell of a lot more parts now!". You see what they were calling a "pinion nut retainer" is simply a thread locker compound on the nut, hell even a cotter pin or second jam nut would have solved the issue. In short what I found out that repairs where already happening in the US while Canada had no parts!

Chrysler and all manufacturers check with the Ministry of Transportation and send out all notices to registered owners of specific vehicles. That's the law.

With recalls being VIN specific, as in, not all vehicles of certain years are covered, there's often lots of confusion over the recalls. The US, with their different laws and larger market, they get the repair info, parts and tools first.

In fairness we have a lot more resources for this kind of thing.